Drivers ‘down wheels’, leaving commuters stranded in Accra

Hundreds of commuters in Accra and surrounding communities were stranded Monday when commercial drivers embarked on a strike in protest against new road traffic regulations issued by the Driver and Vehicle Licensing Authority (DVLA).

The regulations require commercial drivers to install seatbelts in their vehicles in order to qualify the vehicles to be registered.

They also require commercial drivers to use biometric roadworthy stickers and renew their registration numbers every quarter.

The regulations are expected to take effect from the first week of December this year.

Strike impact

The strike, which began in the early hours of Monday, compelled some workers to walk long distances to their workplaces, while others pleaded with private vehicle owners to transport them to nearby bus stops or possibly their workplaces, reports Dominic Moses Awiah.

Schoolchildren too had to trek long distances to their respective schools.

Some drivers defied the directive from the unions and took advantage of the situation to charge exorbitant fares from passengers who had no option.

For instance, the usual fare of GH¢1.80 from Kasoa to Kaneshie was raised to GH¢3.

Some trotro drivers, taking advantage of the situation, decided to divide the journey into three phases to get passengers to pay three times the usual fare.

The strike also took a toll on businesses, as many traders had their stores locked up because of their inability to get transport to their business centres.

The situation was, however, different for commercial motorbike operators, popularly called “Okada”, particularly those at the Kasoa Old Market, the Mallam Junction and the Kaneshie Station, who cashed in on the situation to do brisk business.

“Okada” riders took a cue from some of the ‘trotro’ drivers to charge exorbitant fares.

Between GH¢10 and GH¢15 was charged for a ride from Kaneshie to the Tema Station and the central business district of Accra.

One of the “Okada” riders, Master Awudu Luadini, said he had benefited from the strike.

“As of 12 p.m. I had made about GH¢120, which normally doesn’t happen,” he said.

At the Kwame Nkrumah Circle, some commercial vehicle drivers blocked roads to prevent their fellow commercial drivers from operating, while at Adentan tyres were burnt to prevent other drivers from plying the roads.

At Ashaiman, there were near clashes among the drivers, writes Della Russel Ocloo.

While some of the drivers embraced the strike, others defied the call by their leaders to suspend their work.

That disagreement among the two sections of drivers nearly degenerated into clashes.

Attempts were made by some of the striking drivers to seize keys to the vehicles of those drivers who refused to participate in the strike.

As early as 4:30 a.m. commercial drivers who would join in the strike had converged on the Ashaiman main lorry station to mount roadblocks.

The situation, which created a gridlock that extended from Ashaiman to the Motorway Roundabout, left many commuters stranded.

According to the leadership of the drivers’ unions, the new policy was unfriendly to most illiterate commercial drivers.

They argued that the DVLA did not engage the transport unions to solicit their input into the policy and its implementation.

According to the President of the Ashaiman District Cooperative Transport Union, Mr Joshua Baffoe-Aikins, a stakeholder engagement among transport unions, the government, the DVLA and other bodies on the introduction of the policy had ended inconclusively in 2014.

Cry of Commercial drivers 

Some of the commercial drivers who spoke to the Daily Graphic described some of the policies prescribed by the DVLA as an “attempt to collapse our business”.

“The DVLA’s directive to register commercial vehicles with seatbelts will collapse our business,” a frustrated driver, Mr Eric Kodah, said.

Touching on biometric roadworthy stickers, another driver, Mr Thomas Danso, said, “All the roads on which we are driving  are not good and yet the DVLA asks us to take a computerised road worthy test, knowing that we will not pass."

Kumasi

From Kumasi, Donald Ato Dapatem & Kwadwo Baffoe Donkor report that commercial drivers in the Ashanti Region, especially Kumasi, were oblivious of the strike and agitation by some of their fellow drivers in some parts of Accra.

Most of the drivers the Daily Graphic spoke to either did not know anything about the strike or they had heard about the action in Accra on radio.

Nevertheless, some of them said they would vehemently oppose any move to get their licences renewed only after they had passed a computerised test.

A ‘trotro’ driver at the Abuakwa-Kejetia Station, Mr Kwabena Afriyie, asked, “I have never touched a computer before and so how can I write an examination using a computer just to qualify to drive trotro in Kumasi?”

Richmond Ntiamoah, a driver who plies the Adum-KNUST route, said he supported any action that was in the interest of commercial drivers but he would never park his car for even a minute because being in motion was what gave him money to cater for his family.

“The GPRTU bosses are very rich and can afford to stay at home for days, but I cannot afford to make my family go hungry,” he added.

At the Atonsu-Agogo Station, the ‘trotros’ were parked, while drivers’ mates called passengers to board them.

The situation was not different at the various stations visited in the metropolis. 

At the Kejetia Bus Terminal, the story was not different.